Iodine based preparations are commonly acknowledged to be among the most effective of the available germicides and antiseptics. Moreover, solutions of iodine have been shown to have fungicidal and viricidal properties. It is also known that solutions of iodine appear to exhibit no selectivity against different strains of bacteria, all types being killed at approximately the same level of concentration and exposure time.
Numerous mixtures of iodine are now commercially available. These include iodoform, tincture of iodine, iodine trichloride and the various iodophores. Of the available embodiments of iodine, the iodophores are in most common use and presently occupy the position of greatest commercial interest.
The prior art teaches that crystalline iodine can be placed in solution through the use of surfactants such as polyvinyl-pyrrolidone, polyethoxyehanol derivatives and a variety of quaternary ammonium compounds. These resulting mixtures of iodine and surface active agents are referred to in the scientific literature as iodophores.
Iodophore solutions are polar and micellar in character. Given that iodine is highly insoluble in polar water, the problem of solubilizing iodine is partially solved in the preparation of iodophores by incorporating the iodine component in a micellar system. In effect, in iodophores, the iodine is solubilized and carried in micellar agregates which aggregates are formed through the use of surfactants such as those referred to above. The micellar system acts as a reservoir which liberates iodine into the polar water of the preparation and thence onto the surface to be treated.
Repeated studies have shown that iodophores exhibit maximum stability and activity in solutions, the pH of which must be within the range of 3.0 to 4.0. Solutions outside of this range consistently demonstrate reduced stability and germicidal activity. This restriction is commonly acknowledged to be among the shortcomings of the iodophores.
Investigation of the commercially available iodophores indicates that the inherent instability of iodine in polar water is not remedied through incorporation of that agent in micellar structures. On analysis, iodophore preparations are found to be complexes of a variety components; that is, they are comprised of mixtures of all possible oxidative states of iodine. Thus, when iodophores are evaporated to dryness, it is found that the compositions individual components, i.e. free iodine, free salts and surfactants are released onto the treated surface.
When, as in the claimed invention, iodophores or iodine is combined with the coacervate phase (the lipoidal non polar liquid aqueous phase) of the two phase liquid aqueous system of this invention, the defects described immediately above are eliminated.